Filipinos gather in downtown Manila to call for the continued aid and rehabilitation of typhoon-ravaged Tacloban and nearby provinces in the central Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda) ravaged the area six months ago, killing thousands and destroying homes, infrastructure and agriculture.

A mosque is seen through shattered glass in the old city of Homs, Syria, on Thursday. Rebel fighters were withdrawing from the city center in line with a negotiated withdrawal deal with the government after having held out under tight siege for nearly two years. At least 80% of rebel fighters have already pulled out of the city and the rest will leave later in the day, the provincial governor told Agence France-Presse.

In Caracas, Venezuela, on Thursday, National Guard personnel clear out and dismantle a student encampment in front of the U.N. headquarters. The encampment was one of several remaining from a three-month protest against President Nicolas Maduro over rising crime, shortages and inflation.

The deadly sinking of the ferry Sewol continues to roil South Korea. In Seoul on Thursday, Policemen detain university students rallying to demand that President Park Geun-Hye's government take more responsibility.

President Obama is welcomed to Los Angeles at LAX on Wednesday by Mayor Eric Garcetti. The president was on his way to a USC Shoah Foundation dinner, where he was honored, as well as a series of fundraisers for Democratic candidates in this year's midterm elections.

Demonstrators against the Keystone XL pipeline project -- including Ileene Anderson, a senior scientist for the Center for Biological Diversity, dressed in a Goofy costume -- gather at the gates of Bel-Air as President Obama attends a fundraiser at the home of Disney chief Alan Horn.